Effective Recovery Techniques for Optimal Running

Running training can be very strenuous. To get the most benefit from all your hard work you need to recovery properly from the stress of training.

In fact, recovery is just as important as training if you want to run healthy and run strong. Training breaks down your body's systems and structures; recovery replenishes your energy and repairs physical structures like muscles and bones.

If you don't get enough recovery you'll end up overtrained, injured or both. But many runners don't have or follow effective recovery strategies. Use the following information to come up with a thorough recovery plan to keep running strong and injury-free.

Stress & Recovery

Training is a form of stress to the body. While it is often termed eustress (positive stress which benefits the body) too much exercise or too little recovery work can turn training into distress (negative stress which breaks down the body).

If you look at a typical stress-adaptation model, you'll notice as stress increases there is an initial dip in function or performance. Then performance levels increase as you adapt to the stress. This is a normal, healthy response.

If the stress goes on for too long or the stress is of great enough magnitude, your body cannot adapt so performance and function decline until you reach a point where disease or injury occurs.

The total amount of stress imposed upon a person is often termed "allopathic load" and includes both eustress and distress. The important thing to remember is we need a certain amount of stress to thrive; too much is not good but neither is too little.

Modern life is full of many stressors and a person's ability to deal with stress is highly individualistic. Some people can handle more stress than others. And different forms of stress impact individuals differently.

I could write pages and pages about the effects of stress but to keep it simple, bear in mind that your training is only one form of stress you face. By taking appropriate steps to manage training you can keep it a positive influence on your health and performance rather than a negative influence.

Recovery Begins Early

Your recovery actually begins before you even start training. By making sure you are prepared before your run or workout you'll make your recovery faster and more efficient.

SLEEP: Getting a good 7 - 8 hours sleep on a regular basis is your most important step in recovery. During sleep your parasympathetic nervous system is most active and working on rebuilding and repairing the damage caused by training.

Cutting back on your sleep cycle reduces or impedes production of hormones like melatonin, growth hormone, testosterone and estrogen that are vital to optimal health.

HYDRATION: Maintaining adequate hydration before you run or workout is also important. Setting out on a 20-mile long run in a dehydrated state is going to make that run much harder and make your recovery longer as you'll dehydrate even more during the run.

NUTRITION: Making sure you've eaten well in the days and weeks prior to big training days or races is crucial to keeping your glycogen levels topped up as well as providing your body with the nutrients it needs to repair and grow.

TECHNIQUE & PACING: During your training using proper technique and pacing will aid with recovery. If your technique is poor you'll be placing undue stress on joints, muscles and connective tissue. This creates excessive damage requiring more recovery time. Likewise with pacing. Going too hard, too often does more damage than good.

Post-Training Recovery Techniques

Once you've completed your training session, whether it be a run or in the gym, you need to immediately use your recovery techniques.

REHYDRATE & REPLENISH: Two of the best things to do are rehydrate and replenish. Drink 500 ml of water within the first hour of finishing your workout. Drink more if you ran in hot or humid weather. Also use some electrolytes with your water if this was the case.

Then consume 30 - 60 grams of carbohydrate along with 10 - 20 grams of protein within two hours of your workout. The sooner you take this in the better; within 30 minutes is optimal.

The carbohydrates will replenish your glycogen while the protein will help with carbohydrate uptake. It will also provide amino acids to repair structural damage and some of the raw materials needed for hormone production.

SOFT TISSUE WORK: Doing some soft tissue rejuvenation work using the Stick, a foam roller or small balls is also useful post-exercise. Do not use too much pressure, you don't want to cause pain. You want a gentle massaging of the muscles to promote blood flow and release any constrictions in the connective tissue.

Post-workout is the time to do static stretching as well. Ease into any stretches and do not move into a point of pain. I've found doing a combination of soft tissue work followed by static stretching to be a very effective form of recovery.

WATER THERAPY: Another great post-workout recovery technique is to take an epsom salt bath. The theory behind the salt baths is they help remove excess positive hydrogen ions from the blood, which are created by exercise and the production of lactic acid.

You can also soak any painful body parts in cold water or ice water (if you can stand the pain). This will help reduce inflammation. Standing in a lake or the ocean after a race is a favourite technique of many runners.

Contrast showers are another useful recovery method. You simply alternate between running hot and cold water onto different areas of your body. The idea here is to promote blood flow to the area thus removing waste by-products and delivering oxygen and nutrients. (I prefer epsom salt baths myself. They're much less painful.)

Longer Term Recovery Strategies

All of the above are techniques you can use immediately following your run or workout. But there are some other techniques you can use at other times to help you manage the stresses of training.

NAPPING: Taking short naps can be beneficial. I take a 10 - 20 minute nap almost every day but especially on days I've trained hard. This is not a deep sleep but enough to slow the body down and initiate repair processes.

BODYWORK: During periods of heavy or intense training, various forms of bodywork or therapy can be very helpful.

• Massage therapy (all different kinds)
• Active Release Therapy (ART)
• Chiropractic treatment
• Visceral fascia therapy
• Inter-muscular Stimulation (IMS)
• Acupuncture
• Other forms of bodywork

All these types of therapy can help improve or lessen the effects of muscle imbalances or joint inefficiencies that many runners have developed over time. You don't need to wait until you're injured to use these methods.

MOBILITY WORK: Doing some mobility work on a daily basis can reap huge benefits over the long run. I use the Stick almost every day. You can also use a foam roller or small balls. Doing dynamic movement exercises helps keep the joints supple and strong without overtaxing the muscles.

Yoga is one example of a dynamic movement exercise. I'd recommend a gentler form of yoga such as hatha yoga for recovery. But you could also do other forms of dynamic movement drills such as the ones I teach in my clinics and running camps.

Dynamic stretching can help much more than simple static stretching although static stretching is a technique that can be used as well.

Contract-relax stretching is another effective form of mobility and flexibility work. By actively contracting and relaxing muscles you use your nervous system to improve your flexibility.

Focus on one or two areas where you have the greatest limitations when doing the mobility work. For many runners this will be their ankles and hips along with the surrounding musculature. Even 5 - 10 minutes a day can help greatly. The key is be consistent with it.

If you recall the Performance Training Pyramid this mobility work focuses on the bottom tier, your Fundamental Movement Skills. By improving the limitations in movement you currently have you'll be better able to improve your Fitness Skills and your Technical Skills.

STEAMS & SAUNAS: Both of these can be of benefit as well. Use traditional rooms or the newer technology like infrared saunas.

NUTRITION: Eating well on a consistent basis is also part of your long term recovery strategy. You don't have to be perfect; use the 80/20 rule by eating well 80% of the time. During important training periods ramp up to eating healthy 90% of the time.

STRESS MANAGEMENT: Managing your other stresses on a daily basis will also help your recovery from training. Financial, emotional, psychological and a myriad of other stressors come at us on a daily basis. Not all are necessarily bad or undesirable. But be careful that your overall stress load does not become too great.

Connect with family and friends, have healthy outlets for your emotions and otherwise manage those stresses with whatever means work for you.

Rule of Thumb for Recovery Work

As a general rule of thumb, for every hour you spend training per week do 15 - 30 minutes of recovery using the techniques of mobility work, body work therapies, epsom salt baths, contrast showers, steams, saunas and the like.

The more intense your training or the older you are the more time you should spend recovering. Masters category athletes should be doing 30 minutes of recovery for each hour of training.

In the long run, if you put into place and follow recovery strategies you'll be a much healthier and stronger runner.